Rohith Vemula (R) and Sheikh Riyaz during their BSc days in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. On January 17, 2016, Vemula, a PhD student at the University of Hyderabad and author of the book ‘Caste is Not a Rumour’ took his own life following a controversy in 2015 that led to his expulsion from the hostel along with 5 other scholars. His death triggered countrywide protests and a debate over the alleged harassment of the Dalit community in the world of academia. (Courtesy Sudipto Mandal)

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Vemula's entry in Riyaz's slam book. “He told me he was afraid he would have to discontinue his PhD. He said the opposition ABVP was too strong as they had the support of MPs and MLAs, ministers as well as the university management. He had given up hope of victory,” said Riyaz during an interview. (Courtesy Sudipto Mandal)

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Police detain members of different student organisations during a protest in front of the HRD Ministry office at Shashtri Bhawan, New Delhi, demanding the sacking of the Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad Central University. (Vipin Kumar / HT Photo)

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Vemula's mother Radhika Vemula is given first aid in an ambulance after she was injured while being arrested by the police at Hyderabad Central University. (PTI)

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Members of various student organisations hold placards during a protest at the Arts Faculty in North Campus, Delhi University. (Saumya Khandelwal / HT Photo)

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Congress workers and supporters burn an effigy of then union HRD minister Smriti Irani in Bhopal. Irani’s statement that Vemula’s death was not a “Dalit versus non-Dalit issue” and that there was a “malicious attempt to project it as a caste battle” sparked further outrage. (Mujeeb Faruqui / HT Photo)

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Posters on a wall in solidarity at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), as students went on an indefinite hunger strike. The controversy over Vemula’s caste status continues to simmer after the Justice Roopanwal Commission, which probed his death, and revenue officials of Guntur district, the student’s birthplace, held that he was not a Dalit. (Saumya Khandelwal / HT Photo)

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Activists of various organizations take part in a candle-light march to observe Vemula’s first death anniversary in New Delhi. ‘Justice for Rohith Vemula,’ a committee of students and faculty members, will observe ‘Rohith Shahadat Day’ — or martyrdom day — on January 17 and hold a convention at the University of Hyderabad auditorium to discuss discrimination against Dalits. (Virendra Singh Gosain / HT Photo)

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Members of the Youth Congress along with Vemula's mother Radhika (centre) during a protest in New Delhi. “His family story haunted Rohith all his life,” said Riyaz. “He faced caste discrimination in the house where he grew up. But instead of succumbing, Rohith fought it out. He broke many barriers before he got to the final stretch, his PhD.” (Arun Sharma / HT Photo)

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Youth Congress workers take part in a torch rally demanding justice for Vemula in Bhopal. “The university authorities, the Centre and the state government might have thought the Rohith episode was a closed chapter. So long as the issues for which he attained martyrdom remain, his memories will continue to haunt the university and government,” said Dontha Prashanth, a leader of the Ambedkar Students Union, at Hyderabad University. (Mujeeb Faruqui / HT Photo)

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The Hyderabad University took a tough stand as protests engulfed the campus immediately after Vemula’s death, but peace seems to have returned two years on. Other than groups of students protesting on and off at a memorial for the research scholar close to a shopping complex on the campus, no large-scale event has bothered the authorities. (Vipin Kumar / HT Photo)

about the gallery

In 2016, Rohith Vemula, a PhD student at the University of Hyderabad took his own life following a controversy in 2015 that led to his expulsion from the hostel along with 5 other scholars. The university took a tough stand as protests engulfed the campus immediately after Vemula’s death, but peace seems to have returned two years on. The Justice for Rohith Vemula, a committee of students and faculty members, will observe Rohith Shahadat Day — or martyrdom day — on January 17 this year.